Americas ongoing rebellion

Democracy is a historic fight that we have to keep re-winning

Untitled Document
There’s a tendency in our country for
autocratic officials to clamp down on our fundamental rights of free speech
and assembly — especially when the powers that be don’t like
what we are gathering together to say. Fortunately, our country is blessed
with rebels who push back. At the 2004 Republican National Convention, in New
York City, protesters against the Iraq war planned a mass demonstration on
what’s known as the Great Lawn of Central Park. They intended to make
public use of this public land but were curtly denied a permit. Why? Officials said that protesters would harm the
grass of the Great Lawn and that an unwritten regulation only allowed
crowds of 50,000 or fewer to be on the 13-acre lawn at one time. Excuse us, said the protest leaders, but much larger
crowds have routinely been allowed there for concerts and other events.
Indeed, before our application, they said, there have been no limits on
crowd size. Go away, said the officials. Well, while they were shut out of the people’s
park for the duration of the political convention, the groups did not go
away. Instead, they filed a federal lawsuit, charging the city with
unlawful denial of their First Amendment rights. After three years of
litigation, city officials finally backed away from their unconstitutional
position and settled the case. The city agreed to pay $500,000 in legal
costs that the groups incurred, and officials will no longer set an
arbitrary limit on protest numbers or deny access to the Great Lawn on
political grounds. Our freedom and democratic rights were not
“won” for us by the founders back in the 1700s. Rather,
democracy is a historic fight that we must constantly re-win — a
fight that depends on Americans’ remaining rebellious. Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator,
columnist, and author.